Service Dogs Help Vets Battle PTSD

Majority of the world know and understand what PTSD is but what most of them don’t know is how bad it affects the people who deal with it day to day. BOOM, a gunshot? a bomb? or just a balloon these veterans never know what to expect when coming home and simple things may trigger a PTSD vet and give them so called flashbacks to what they went through at a certain point in their life. Could there be something to fix those triggers and calm someone who suffers from this mental illness? Well there is an animal out there that is the number one helper with PTSD veterans and that is the dog, but more specifically a canine. 

Canines are more slender, long legged dogs with pointy ears and a lovable personality. German shepherds are one of the most common companions prescribed to vets with PTSD as they make the vet feel safe and comforted. They show their owner love and affection in return for a companion that watches them and takes care of them. These dogs do miracles to the veterans by helping them cope with their illness and move on in life. I believe that when many of these veterans get home from a war or battle they feel that they are all alone and never try to get help but instead ignore these feelings of pain and suffering. Owning a dog is a huge responsibility for anyone and it could give a veteran some meaning back into their life. These canines are special as they are trained to be service dogs and are specifically trained to help vets with PTSD-mitigating tasks such as turning on lights, and creating a buffer especially in public places, and even help prevent nightmares. Although these tasks seem awful easy for the regular person, for a vet suffering from PTSD it’s like a battle in their minds. Dogs in general help adults battle anxiety, depression, and loneliness, so specially trained dogs for PTSD vets are even more trained to help their owner with almost anything they struggle with. Lots of PTSD vets suffer from nightmares and often get very little sleep which then affects how they think even more and makes them feel more inclined to commit suicide as it affects their mind and thinking. Canines drastically help benefit veterans sleep as it makes the vets feel loved and having someone by their side helps with nightmares and panic attacks. 

More and more places are offering a program to sign up for which will help you get a specially trained service dog for PSTD patients. K9’s for Warriors is one of the biggest programs in America for helping locate and find the right dog for all veterans in need of a dog to help them. K9’s for Warriors specifically chose to train shelter dogs as they are also going through a trauma and this can help make the bond between a PTSD vet and shelter/service dog even greater. When both companions are in pain and traumatized they can work together to better themselves and in this situation the dog and the veteran can help each other with each of their symptoms and benefit being around each other. Combining two broken minds can heal and create a bond that the vet never knew they could experience with an animal. Overall service dogs provide a much better path for veterans suffering PTSD and can help them avoid things like addiction that comes with medications and pill usage.

Medications is probably the first answer anyone has to reduce symptoms of any illness, these medications consists of pills that affect mood and energy levels and even pills to help with sleep and anxiety. PTSD veterans may take up to 4 different pills just to get them through their day and this pill consumption can lead to another bad thing to add onto the PTSD, and that’s addiction. K9;s for Warriors offers stories on their website of veterans and their lives before owning a service dog. Many of those vets says the same thing, about how they had suicidal thoughts and were hooked on taking pills and medications to drown themselves away from the symptoms of PSTD and it often lead to a worse feeling of depression and needing more medications.

Pills and medications aren’t always the best way to treat everything, especially PTSD as many veterans get addicted to the pills and later on turn to hard drugs to help self medicate. To stop this addiction and PSTD symptoms service dogs are something that has been suggested to many patients with PTSD as it helps them lower their symptoms and lower their medication use. The specially trained dogs help veterans cope with PTSD same as any medication or pill in the world. Service dogs are already one point better as once you get the dog you don’t have to keep paying for it as you do with pills, which is why many PTSD vets turn to drugs as they are cheaper then the medication they get and easier to purchase. National Library of Medicine completed a research study on how service dogs affect military veterans medicine regime. They took a group of veterans that currently have service dogs and veterans that are on the waitlist for service dogs and examined them day to day on how they change their medication usage and regime. It was said that most veterans with service dogs decreased their medication usage or removed some medicines from their regime. Many vets on the waitlist had no changes to their medication and some even added a medication while owners of a service dog had 30 members out of 67 remove a medication and another 25 decrease the dose of their medication. Kerri Rodriguez, one of the people who helped create the study, says “Many individuals with PTSD who respond to evidence-based treatments in the short-term do not reach stable remission over time” showing how medicines may not be the best choice for PTSD symptoms. Rodriguez always stated that “In addition, common comorbid conditions such as depression, anxiety, traumatic brain injury, or substance use disorder can make treatment for military veteran with PTSD more difficult”. 

Jeanne Segal, who is one of the writers of “The Health and Mood-Boosting Benefits of Pets” speaks on how owning a pet specifically boosts two key chemicals inside your brain. These two chemicals are serotonin and dopamine, also called the happy drugs which function in your brain help affect your mood, motivation, and even cognition. Boosting serotonin and dopamine with PTSD is a huge benefit and can help reduce the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and loneliness that these veterans face on a day to day basis. The creators of MIND, a website which offers help for those battling antidepressant usage and its side effects says that “Mood boosting pills may make you feel good after taking them, but afterwards they come with lots of side effects that may lead to worsen symptoms of PTSD”, therefore doctors should start looking into other ways to help treat PTSD and not just prescribing them pills to get through day to day tasks.

PTSD and its affects on ones mind very much can guide a person to commit suicide to end the struggle of battling with PTSD. Many vets don’t know where to get help and are scared to talk to others about their problems which makes their battle with it even worse. Nowadays more and more VA clinics are offering help to the vets and canines are just one of the many solutions to help combat PTSD. Canines are loyal and will always stick by their owners side taking away that feeling of loneliness and anxiety vets may face. The canine also gives the veterans activities to do like taking a walk or napping together on the couch even going to the dog park helps fulfill happiness in both the dog and the vet. These studies showing the effects of canines and PTSD vets offer a great explanation as to why a vet should really consider getting a trained dog and their quality of life will skyrocket. 

Table 1.

Descriptives statistics and group-level analyses on responses to the question “Since getting a service dog/getting on the waitlist, has your doctor made any changes to your medications? Select all that apply.”

	Waitlist (n = 62)	Service dog (n = 67)	Group difference
	n (%)	n (%)	χ2	p
No changes	31 (50%)	19 (28%)	6.354	0.012
Increased dose	22 (36%)	11 (16%)	6.149	0.013
Added a medication	17 (27%)	19 (28%)	0.014	0.905
Decreased dose	1 (2%)	25 (37%)	25.503	< 0.001
Removed a medication	7 (11%)	30 (45%)	17.652	< 0.001

Medication has its benefits but it also has it downsides, and in this case lots of downsides. Most PTSD vets are given a handful of medications which mainly derive from antidepressants, which are known to have plenty of side effects. Some known side effects of these medications are suicidal feelings, decreased alertness, sexual problems, and much more. Addiction is obviously another huge problem with PTSD medication as it is very hard to get off the pills and to stop taking them especially if you have been taking the medications for a long time it will be even harder to stay away from them. Service dogs offer a much more hopeful road to recovery from the symptoms of PTSD. Service dogs help create a bond between man and animal and that bond becomes unbreakable and helps to destroy that feeling of helplessness and loneliness that comes from PTSD. 

When War Vets come home they experience horrible nightmares and are often rattled and on edge constantly. Waking up everyday is a struggle to these vets after what they have been through and seen or heard. These struggles are hard and can often lead to depression and loneliness as they seem to push everyone away from them in fear for what might happen if they stay like family and loved ones. Veterans seem broken and helpless, forced to take medications that rarely take away their feelings but instead only mask the pain underneath. Many veterans feel alone and avoid speaking with people as they don’t want to affect the people around them and spread their pain to others.

PTSD veterans often need someone or something to help them through the pain. Sometimes these vets come back so mentally wounded that their family and friends may not want to be around them seeing how changed they are after a war or battle in the line of duty. One possible way may be a dog, specifically a dog trained to help support their companion and make them feel happy and full of emotions again. Service dogs are one of the best options out there for vets to feel safer and loved and gives the veteran a responsibility to look after the dog as it will look after for them. Service dogs have been provided to veterans since 1958, beginning with blind veterans needing guide dogs to help them travel and assist their mobility. Since then PTSD service dogs are offered at thousands of clinics to provide support in those who may need a specially trained dog. Places like K9’s For Warriors, the nations largest provider for service dogs for veterans even provides statistics for how much their dogs have helped these veterans. They reported that approximately 92% of veterans report in a reduction of medication after owning a service dog. A high 82% of veterans report that they no longer have suicidal thoughts and feelings after having a k9. K9’s for Warriors main goal is to lower the suicide rate for veterans with PTSD as around 20 vets take their own lives each day. Their program has rescued over 1,500 dogs to give them a life and allowing them to have a purpose instead of being put down or abused.

Some may say most veterans need a service dog to help them rehabilitate and get back on track with their life. Veterans battle with mental health issues daily and having a service dog can help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Being out in public again with all the loud noises and people walking around may bother or trigger a veteran with PTSD, so having a dog can help take away all that anxiety they have from being out in the public. Service dogs also help renew enjoyment in life for the vets and allow them to do things they may have felt uncomfortable doing before. Also these dogs can help lessen the amount of medication a vet takes as they no longer feel the need to take these medications for stress or anxiety as the dogs can help solve that issue for them. Sleep is another big struggle for veterans and many may also take pills to help go to bed at night. Service dogs offer a shield for nightmares and overall help aid a veteran in sleeping as it makes the vet feel loved and not alone at night. Being unable to sleep can easily affect anyones day as it changes their moods and appearances over time. Sleep insomnia is what this condition is known as and the side effects of it are very bad as it can lead to suicidal thoughts and doubts of living.

Many veterans with PTSD may consider suicide as an option to get them to forget everything they ever witnessed but forever. Suicide rates among veterans of war is very high as around 22 veterans take their lives daily in America. The stress and suffering these veterans go through makes them think they have nothing to live for and are in constant pain, mentally from PSTD. VA studies have shown that approximately 20-30% of veterans live with PTSD and with that around 50% of those vets turn to suicide compared to non PTSD adults. According to the VA Suicide Prevention Annual Report, nearly 18 service members take their own lives each day. These numbers and statistics show the dangers of what PTSD can do to someone and how it makes simple daily tasks a complete struggle. The CEO of Canine Companions, Paige Mazzoni says that “Service dogs provide a significant therapeutic benefit for veterans with PTSD.” In providing these canines to veterans they can significantly reduce the suicide rate of PTSD patients and help them succeed with this fight against PTSD. One main factor that leads to worsen symptoms of PTSD is being alone and having no one to talk to. Lots of vets live alone and are afraid to go out and speak about what they are feeling or avoid help in general, what if they may not need to speak to a therapists but can instead have a friendly animal? That’s where K9’s come into play as they will make a vet no longer feel lonely and empty as they have someone or something to take care of. Service dogs give back a meaning into veterans lives which is having a responsibility and that is to take care of their new companion. Dogs can take away some of that stress and fear from the veterans and studies have even shown that people with dogs have lower blood pressure levels and are less likely to develop heart disease. Service dogs can help a veteran release dopamine in the brain as dopamine is the brains “happy drug” which can counter the symptoms they may get from PTSD. Playing with dogs has a high increase in peoples dopamine levels, which is what makes us feel excited and motivated. 

More and more vets suffering from PTSD are getting service dogs to help better their lives. NEADS Inc. is one of the top suppliers for trained service dogs specifically for ill or injured veterans around America. These trained dogs could seriously change the lives of vets forever and practically turn some of their lives around and bring that joy back in the world for them. Being alone is one of the worst things ever especially after something traumatic as a war or fight that lead to PTSD. Veterans just need someone around, someone they can trust and feel safe around and protect. K9’s are the best solution for these vets struggling day to day with PTSD symptoms and other mental battles they may face as a veteran. I believe that the program, K9’s for Warriors is one of the best things out there for veterans suffering PSTD as its run by people who have faced the same thing veterans are facing now. Veterans can relate to the workers of K9’s for Warriors because they both suffered PTSD from the military and now have service dogs that drastically changed their lives for the better. These veterans can feel more comfortable opening up to other vets and talking about their feelings and what they are going through. Many vets feel that they re alone in this battle with PTSD when they are in fact not, they just need the right people to talk to and get help from. Seeing how other vets with PTSD changed their lives using service dogs can help influence other people going through the same shit to get a device dog and see how it changes their own lives. Veterans need to know that they are not alone in this battle with PTSD and that there is people who they can speak with and get help and even get a service dog to help them with their daily lives and battle PSTD together.

References:

“How service dogs can help Veterans with PTSD” K9’s for warriors (April 17 2023)– https://news.va.gov/118407/how-service-dogs-can-help-veterans-with-ptsd/#:~:text=K9s%20For%20Warriors%20is%20the,of%20Veterans%20who%20commit%20suicide.

“How pets can help us maintain mental health”A. Beetz, K. Uvnas-Moberg, H. Julius, K. Kotrschal (July 9 2012)– https://namica.org/blog/how-dogs-can-help-us-maintain-mental-health/#:~:text=How%20Dogs%20Can%20Help%20with,improve%20your%20all%2Daround%20health.

“The Health and mood boosting benefits of pets” L.Robinson, J. Segal (October 2 2023)- https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/mood-boosting-power-of-dogs.htm

“The Impact of Service Dogs on Military Veterans and (Ex) First Aid Responders With Post-traumatic Stress Disorder” Front Psychiatry (May 4 2022)-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9114472/#:~:text=We%20found%20that%20veterans%20and,those%20with%20a%20companion%20dog.

“VA Study Shows Service Dogs Impact Veterans with PTSD Canine Companions® applauds expansion of VA insurance benefits for Veterans” J. Konopelski (March 17 2021)- https://www.proquest.com/docview/2501802103?accountid=13605&parentSessionId=EEyhmWEdF%2F2TDuaIT%2B8EwIiE25fuc2Sy0yezeZJKFbU%3D&pq-origsite=primo

“Side-Effects of antidepressants and what they can cause”Mind.org in the UK (September 2020) https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/antidepressants/side-effects-of-antidepressants/